The First Order

Ren Xiaosu had heard of Xu Ke’s name on many occasions. As the leader of the Qinghe Group, it was quite normal that his name was so well-known.

But in his opinion, the leader of an organization should be someone very prominent and aloof. As Ren Xiaosu did not like interacting with such people, he initially wanted to bail on Qin Sheng.

The Yang Consortium had also invited Ren Xiaosu to a gala before. However, that event made him lose interest in all galas since then.

The games people in the upper class played did not interest Ren Xiaosu at all.

But right now, Xu Ke was dressed in a casual gray sweater paired with a checkered apron. He held a plate of shredded pork with garlic sauce in one hand and a spatula in the other. He looked like he was only in his thirties and could be considered young.

This image did not suit the looks of an organization’s leader at all. Instead, he felt more like a really nice househusband.

Qin Sheng introduced Ren Xiaosu to Xu Ke, “This is Ren Xiaosu, whom I mentioned to you previously.”

“Pleased to meet you. Quickly take a seat. I’ll bring the food over.” Xu Ke said, “Due to the secrecy of this matter, the place that we chose is a little secluded. It’s just some home-cooked food, so I hope you won’t mind.”

“It looks pretty good.” Ren Xiaosu looked at the shredded pork with garlic sauce in front of him. It looked delicious and appetizing.

Qin Sheng said from next to him, “Dig in. This is a secret gathering place for the Riders. It’s usually Big Brother Xu Ke who prepares the meals.”

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Meanwhile, Old Li was rummaging through the cabinets for something. Xu Ke wondered, “What are you looking for?”

“Where’s the wine you hid in the house?” Old Li asked.

“Have you forgotten?” Xu Ke did not know whether to laugh or cry. “You and Qingxi finished it the previous time. Also, we shouldn’t be having any alcohol now since it might delay our work.”

“Ahem.” Zhang Qingxi said, “He drank a lot more than me. I only had a little….”

When the five of them took their seats, Xu Ke raised his teacup and said to Ren Xiaosu, “I’m grateful to Brother Xiaosu for coming to Luoyang City’s assistance during this crisis. I would have liked to have given you a toast with wine, but I have to keep a clear head right now. So in place of that, let me use tea to toast you instead.” With that, Xu Ke downed the tea in one gulp.

Curious, Ren Xiaosu asked, “Just what is the cause of this crisis? Surely those organizations can’t come looking for trouble just because they want to seize your satellites, right?”

“The cause of this actually arose from the Xu clan’s control of the Qinghe Group.” Xu Ke calmly explained, “You should’ve heard the rumor that we’re searching for the heir of the major shareholder. In fact, our Xu clan only owns 3% of the Qinghe Group’s shares. The rest of the company belongs to the major shareholder.”

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“I know that.” Ren Xiaosu asked, “But what does that have to do with the crisis?”

“Our Xu clan’s ancestor was named Xu Nuo. He built the organization with the founder of the Qinghe Group, and the leadership role has since been passed down from father to son through my family’s lineage. We all abide by the teachings of our forebears and do not covet what does not belong to us.” Xu Ke sighed. “This is really a scandal for our clan. Although my direct family does not have ambitions of seizing control of the Qinghe Group for ourselves, some of our relatives are unwilling to comply.”

With Xu Ke’s explanation, Ren Xiaosu realized Xu Ke and his father had always only taken a 3% share of the profits, while the rest of the money was reinvested back into the operations of the Qinghe Group.

As the Xu clan was firmly in power, some of the Xu clan’s relatives gradually started holding important positions within the Qinghe Group.

At first, everyone worked hard and performed quite well. But over time, these people started to completely regard the Qinghe Group as the Xu clan’s asset. Moreover, a lot of them tried to persuade Xu Ke to not search for the major shareholder’s heir anymore.

It was their Xu clan who had been managing the Qinghe Group for all these years, toiling hard and earning merit for the organization. Therefore, they felt the Qinghe Group should rightfully belong to the Xu clan.

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Some of the business arms were even monopolized by certain relatives as they passed down their positions within their own families. In the past, it was the capable people who assumed these positions. But now the children would take over after their parents’ death, regardless of whether they were capable or not.

When Xu Ke realized his relatives were starting to get such ideas, he immediately started purging potential threats within the organization. This was to prevent the Qinghe Group from being led to its demise by the hands of his relatives’ children while under his watch.

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In this clan struggle, Xu Ke came out as the winner in the end. After all, the Riders were on his side.

But this power struggle also made the relatives of the Xu clan realize their strength alone was not enough to exert any pressure on Xu Ke. Moreover, they were not firmly in power at the moment, so they began to secretly conspire with each other and search for external forces to help them seize authority from within the group.

The most critical step was dealing with the Riders.

After his relatives had found the external powers to help them, they did not immediately make a move. Instead, they spent several years planning and letting a large number of spies and unidentified superhumans into Luoyang City.

Ren Xiaosu wondered, “Aren’t they afraid that the external powers will usurp power over Luoyang City?”

Xu Ke laughed. “That’s why they thought they were being smart by finding different groups of people to aid their conspiracy. Their goal is to let the various forces fight among themselves and hold each other back so that no one can usurp the stronghold. In the end, they’re even willing to give up control of all the satellites in exchange for the wealth that’s been accumulated by the Qinghe Group over many years. Some of them even want to sell the Qinghe Group and go lead a life of riches at the other organizations.”

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“So who’s the main enemy this time?” Ren Xiaosu asked.

“The Wang Consortium.” Zhang Qingxi said in a low voice, “But we don’t have any hard evidence yet. We only suspect the Wang Consortium wants to use our seven satellites to complete the final step of their AI strategy.”

After the meal, Ren Xiaosu had a rough understanding of the situation. Perhaps out of gratitude to Ren Xiaosu for his help, Xu Ke told him everything he knew.

Then Xu Ke said with a smile, “Let’s not talk about such serious topics anymore. Do you all want some dessert? Brother Xiaosu, what would you like to eat?”

Ren Xiaosu was stunned. As if he ever had dessert before!

Ren Xiaosu pondered it for a moment before saying, “Give me a plate of pickled garlic then.”

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Xu Ke, Li Yingyun, and Qin Sheng were all surprised.

…

In the end, Ren Xiaosu did not get to eat pickled garlic. But it was not because there wasn’t any in the house as it just so happened that Xu Ke really kept a jar.

Before the pickled garlic could be served, Zhang Qingxi received a phone call. “A chaotic battle has broken out at Triumphant Road again, but we still can’t figure out which of the forces are involved. The garrison troops are already on their way. We’d better hurry over now.”

Xu Ke nodded. “Thank you for the assistance. I’ll also return to the Group’s headquarters immediately.”

With that, everyone got dressed and left in different directions. Ren Xiaosu was surprised to see that Xu Ke’s mode of transportation was actually a bicycle.

Perhaps by using such a mode of transportation, it would make it harder for others to track him down.

Ren Xiaosu asked Qin Sheng, who was beside him, “Are any of the supernatural beings going to make a move tonight?”

“Yes.” Qin Sheng nodded. “But based on their characteristics, one of them seems to have operated as a lone wolf in the past. I wonder which organization recruited him here to make this hard-earned money.”

“A lone wolf?” Ren Xiaosu asked, “What’s his power?”

“Oh, I heard he can produce saliva bubbles to blow people up…”

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